


cohabit

by magicianprince



Series: domesticity [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Domestic, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-25
Updated: 2013-09-25
Packaged: 2017-12-27 13:38:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/979570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicianprince/pseuds/magicianprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The change between an awake Nagisa and a sleeping Nagisa is barely noticeable. Both are insatiable when it comes to cuddling, clinging more greedily to Rei than anyone ever has. Despite having lived together and known each other for a long time, Rei isn’t sure that Nagisa knows about his own habit of talking in his sleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	cohabit

By the time he’d gotten used to living together, Rei had assumed that it would be because he and Nagisa had established a routine. They would have decided on who would cook each meal, the exact time they would wake up in the morning, and who would keep their belongings on the left side of the bathroom and who would keep theirs on the right. Rei had expected some sort of predictability, some sort of structure to their day.

Nagisa, as always, blows his expectations right out of the water.

Each day follows only a loose set of guidelines. More often than not, Rei cooks, but sometimes Nagisa elbows him out of the kitchen and leaves Rei waiting in the next room with dread and a glance towards the restroom, where they keep medicine for stomachaches. When Rei cooks, he never knows whether Nagisa will hang around in the kitchen area on his phone or if he’ll saunter away and collapse onto the couch. Their shared apartment is small; Rei can hear what he’s watching on the television from any room. There are three: the joint area of kitchen-and-living-room, the bedroom, and the bathroom. Rei does most of his nervous waiting in the bedroom. 

Waking up, too, has no set routine. Sometimes, Nagisa will sleep like the dead, and Rei will have to poke and prod at him long after the alarm has gone off. Sometimes, Nagisa wakes up twenty minutes before their alarm and kisses Rei awake, slow and coaxing. 

The restroom had started out neat and organized but had eventually become the mess it is now. Rei finds it hard to remember what belongs to Nagisa and what belongs to him. There’s no differentiation between the two on the counter and around the sink, and so Rei lets it go, only makes sure that they always have different colored toothbrushes and razors so that they don’t end up inadvertently sharing those, too. He has to draw a line somewhere.

He’s brushing his teeth carefully, counting each second in order to be sure that his mouth is adequately cleaned, when Nagisa breezes in, announcing that he’s going to take a shower. Rei leans forward and spits into the sink.

"Give me a minute," he says, as way of acceptance.

Nagisa hums to himself as Rei finishes counting the last thirty seconds. Rei spits into the sink again and washes his toothbrush off.

"I’ll be done soon, so don’t fall asleep yet!" Nagisa calls out as Rei exits the room. He shuts the door before Rei can respond.

Rei heads into the bedroom and starts changing into pajamas. He’s suddenly exhausted beyond belief, and he sets his glasses on the nightstand and slides into bed with a satisfied sigh. The gurgle of the bathtub faucet is loud through their thin walls. After the sound cuts off, the rhythmic pattering of the shower running that replaces it lulls Rei into a welcome state of peace. 

It’s easy to imagine Nagisa finishing his shower and examining himself in the mirror, _their_ mirror, over _their_ bathroom counter covered with _their_ things, and suddenly Rei experiences a moment of inexplicable happiness. They’ve been living together for months. He’s _used_ to it, but the fact that he comes home to Nagisa and Nagisa comes home to him still punches him in the gut every once in a while. Feeling stupid and suddenly wide awake, Rei turns his head and buries his nose in his pillow. _Nagisa_ probably doesn’t get strangely giddy like this in response to nothing.

He’s calmed himself down by the time Nagisa enters the bedroom, a towel around his hips (for the sake of Rei’s sense of propriety, Rei knows). He only has to wait a few minutes before Nagisa flicks the light off and slips under the covers with him, clad in flannel pajamas and warm from the bath.

"Your hair is still wet," Rei tells him, unable to keep the scolding tone from his voice.

Nagisa pulls Rei’s arm over his waist, and Rei finds himself instinctively curving his body to accommodate the way Nagisa shifts in order to be as close as possible. “Mmm, it’s fine.”

There’s a wet spot on Rei’s chin where Nagisa’s damp hair is pressing into it. He angles his head upwards to get away from the chill. “Don’t get sick,” he warns. Nagisa’s hair will be a mess in the morning, too, but Rei doesn’t bother to mention it, knowing that Nagisa will somehow get it to a respectable state by the time he has to leave for work.

"Mmm," says Nagisa. Rei labels the issue a lost cause, and closes his eyes.

The change between an awake Nagisa and a sleeping Nagisa is barely noticeable. Both are insatiable when it comes to cuddling, clinging more greedily to Rei than anyone ever has. Despite having lived together and known each other for a long time, Rei isn’t sure that Nagisa knows about his own habit of talking in his sleep. Nagisa tends to fade off into dreams more quickly than Rei does. It’s no surprise when Nagisa starts mumbling softly.

"Rei," he says, and it’s so clear that Rei wonders if he’s actually awake, but the next thing to come out of Nagisa’s mouth is: "Penguin…a penguin, rice," and it’s too nonsensical to be anything but sleep talk.

"Penguins are very cute," Rei assures him in a quiet voice. "Rice is good, too."

"Rei is…too good to me…" Nagisa says, and even the way he snorts a little at the end of the sentence isn’t enough to keep a blush off of Rei’s face. "A penguin lunch…"

Frowning, Rei wonders what he could mean by that. A penguin for lunch? He’d known that Nagisa had a fondness for penguins, but he hadn’t been aware that Nagisa had wanted to _eat_ one. “I’m not sure I can do that,” he admits. 

"It’s okay if it looks bad." Nagisa snorts softly again.

"I…I know you haven’t really cared about what society thinks, or you wouldn’t be living with me, but…" Rei begins, utterly bemused.

"The best penguin lunchbox…ever," murmurs Nagisa, and that’s when it clicks.

After Rei stops responding, Nagisa seems to settle into deeper sleep—it’s probably weird that Rei talks back to him, but it’s become a habit, and it’s not like Nagisa will ever find out about it. Rei hesitates before carefully rolling over and setting the alarm on his phone to go off early. Hopefully, he’ll wake up quickly enough to shut it off, and Nagisa will be none the wiser. Rei tucks himself back against Nagisa’s front, curls an arm over him, and closes his eyes.

When Rei next wakes up, Nagisa is leaning over him curiously. “Why’d you set the alarm so early?” he asks.

Rei remembers his plan and presses his palm to his eyelids tiredly. “Stay in bed, hold on,” he says, and it takes an expansive amount of effort to drag himself from under the sheets and into the kitchen, shoving his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Nagisa can’t sit still for very long—and once he’s awake, he’s awake. Rei hears him moving around in the bedroom before even ten minutes have passed. Smiling to himself, he focuses on his task, trying to finish by the time Nagisa’s done taming his hair. If Nagisa sees him working on it, it won’t have quite the desired effect. Rei has always believed in putting all of his effort into whatever he undertakes.

Unfortunately, Nagisa’s footsteps enter the kitchen before Rei’s satisfied with what he’s done. Rei whirls around and places himself between Nagisa and his handiwork, hoping that Nagisa hasn’t gotten a good look at it. “Wait, wait, I’m not done,” he stammers, flustered.

Nagisa raises his eyebrows and grins. “I watch you make lunch all the time, Rei-chan,” he says, but the tone of his voice reveals that he knows that something unusual is going on.

"Just…wait a minute," says Rei, trying for a firm tone.

"Tell me when you’re done," replies Nagisa cheekily. He flounces back into the bedroom without another word. 

Rei’s hunched shoulders relax. He turns back to the lunch he’s making, swallowing hard. Rei finds sanctuary in theories and concepts, in chemistry and pencil and paper. He’s never been good at visual art, even as a child. There’s a chance that Nagisa might not even recognize what shape his lunch is supposed to be in. Rei stares down at the food on the kitchen counter, an unintentional grimace twisting his lips. 

He straightens his shoulders. If he gives up now, then there had been no point in even beginning his project. Checking the clock, he decides that he can spend only five more minutes on making lunch; he has an early class today, and punctuality is a trait that he likes to encourage in himself. 

Nagisa’s lunch doesn’t turn out like he had aimed for it to. Even so, Rei wraps it up carefully and puts it in the refrigerator. 

"I’m done!" he announces, raising his voice just enough for Nagisa to hear him from the other room.

Nagisa pokes his head out of the bedroom door. “What did—”

"Don’t look until you’re ready to eat lunch," Rei instructs him, voice stiff with nervousness. "And don’t…don’t laugh," he can’t help but add, tongue sweeping out to wet his dry lips.

Something in Nagisa’s expression softens. “I won’t,” he says, in response to both requests. He moves closer and presses a chaste kiss to Rei’s mouth. “Go get ready for class, okay?”

Rei tells himself firmly that his glasses are fine, they are sitting on his face just _fine_ , but it doesn’t stop him from habitually reaching up and adjusting them anyways. “Alright,” he manages to say. Nagisa smiles up at him jovially as he makes his escape to the bedroom. Heading towards the dresser and then pulling out clothes suitable for class, he runs through his schedule for the day; he’ll be at the university for most of it, so he’ll probably have his cell phone off around the time that Nagisa is eating lunch. 

He can’t decide whether he’s relieved or disappointed.

When he exits the bedroom, fully dressed, Nagisa shoves a plate of toast at him. He’s still grinning, and Rei leans his hip against the kitchen counter while he eats and watches Nagisa bustle around, glancing occasionally at the refrigerator. “Thank you,” says Rei, after he’s finished wolfing down breakfast.

"Hey, even I can do toast," chirps Nagisa. He comes over to stand next to Rei, grabbing his hand and tangling their fingers together. "I’d try and make you lunch, too, but you’re eating at the cafeteria anyway, right?"

Rei clears his throat. “Yes,” he says. “I’ll be fine.” He has his wallet, and the university’s food is actually not all that bad. The thought that Nagisa would try and make lunch for him is nice, though.

He goes to the bathroom and brushes his teeth and then gathers up his study materials. Nagisa stops him just before he opens the door to leave, tugs him down by the backpack straps, places his hands on either side of Rei’s face and kisses him. Nagisa has grown a little since they’ve first met, but he still has to lean up slightly. He slants his mouth against Rei’s with languid ease. 

Pulling back once he’s content, he adjusts Rei’s shirt collar. “Have a good day, darling,” he says sweetly. Rei notes the teasing look in his eyes and flushes red.

"Please refrain from calling me that," he says, and opens the door.

Thirty minutes into his day, Rei is focused completely on school. Nagisa’s lunch is at the back of his mind. It isn’t until he’s eating his own lunch that he remembers, and he gather up his courage before turning his phone back on.

He opens the new message that flashes up at him and his gaze is met with exactly ten heart emoticons. Nagisa neglects to say anything else, such as _I liked it_ or _nice try, Rei-chan_ , but those ten hearts are enough. Rei fights back a smile (it could just be attributed to him smiling at a text from his girlfriend, which it sort of is, but any questions would be awkward to answer) and returns to eating, with a little more gusto. 

Eventually, he does reply, seated on the train and two stops away from the one closest to their apartment. Several high school students are squeezed into the seats next to him, and Rei crosses his legs to give himself more personal space. They’re speaking loudly about some new video game that Rei thinks he wouldn’t have found about any other way, and one that Nagisa would probably find entertaining. _Are you still at work?_

 _Yes, eat dinner without me_ , is all Nagisa messages back. 

Rei feels a little bad for disturbing him while he’s busy. He shoves his phone back into his pocket and leans his head back against the window behind him. The days pass by so quickly, just as quickly as when the two of them were in high school. He’d expected them to slow down, somehow. It had been Nagisa who’d suggested living together after high school, and Rei had found himself agreeing without thinking about it, because Nagisa had first kissed him a year ago and he couldn’t picture himself living with anyone else. It’s strange, how life works like that. Before he’d been faced with Nagisa’s bright enthusiasm, he’d never actively thought about getting married one day, but he’d never thought about sharing a small apartment with a man, either.

He arrives home and shifts his backpack to one shoulder, twisting around and fishing for his keys. When he finally unlocks the door, the space inside is dark. Rei turns on the light in the kitchen and sets his bag down on the sofa. He’ll move it later, so that he and Nagisa can watch a movie. For now, he settles down on the couch, taking out his textbooks and papers. His mind still buzzes with everything he’s learned today.

Nagisa arrives home with a literal bang, startling Rei out of frowning down at his notes on physics.

"I’m home!" Nagisa calls cheerfully, shutting the door behind him with his foot.

"Welcome home," says Rei instinctively, eyeing the cardboard box Nagisa’s got clutched in his hands. "What is that?"

Nagisa dumps it onto the kitchen counter haphazardly. Rei places his school work to the side. “I’ll tell you in a second, come here, come on,” Nagisa urges, and Rei stands up obediently. Nagisa waits patiently, grinning, until Rei is directly in front of him before looping his arms around Rei’s waist. “You are the cutest,” he sighs.

This must be about lunch. “I—” Rei starts to say, but Nagisa shushes him.

"No, no, I know you’re gonna say something stupid and self-deprecating, just let me hug you for a minute. You made it in the shape of a penguin, right?"

"Yeah," Rei mumbles, embarrassed. Thinking back on it, he’s surprised that Nagisa could even tell. He’s got none of Haruka’s artistic talent.

"I don’t know where you got the idea, but it was really cute," Nagisa promises. 

Not sure if he should feel guilty that he got the idea from Nagisa himself, sleep talking or not, Rei finally wraps his arms around Nagisa’s shoulders in return. There’s a warm feeling in his stomach that he’d resigned himself to long ago.

"What’s in the box?" he asks, after a while.

Nagisa makes a small sound like he’s just remembered and wriggles out of his grasp. “Just books from work,” he explains. “My boss asked if I wanted them, and I said I’d bring them back and see if there were any you wanted. I’ll bring the ones we don’t keep back tomorrow. Oh, and since they wouldn’t sell, they had to take the covers off, so they’re not pretty. Just so you know,” he adds, tugging the cardboard flaps open.

Peering into the box, Rei is surprised by the sheer volume of books. “You carried all of this home? From the bookstore?”

"Mm, yeah," Nagisa hums. "Let’s look through them later. Did you eat dinner?"

The mention of food has Rei’s stomach rumbling. “I forgot,” he admits. Usually, he keeps himself on a strict schedule of work-eat-work, but even now, his fingers itch to go back and finish reading through his notes.

"Rei-chan! You have to eat," Nagisa scolds. Tapping Rei’s forehead, he continues, "Or else this thing here can’t keep on being smart."

He has a point; Nagisa uses his muscles and his ability to deal with people at work, but Rei’s brain is his main tool. “We can eat together now,” he suggests.

Rei ends up cooking while Nagisa shoves crackers into his mouth on the insistence that it’s for Rei’s own benefit. “Your stomach is thanking me,” he says solemnly. Rei bites his fingertips as he accepts the next cracker and Nagisa laughs, loud and clear.

Later, once they’ve eaten and Rei’s put his study materials away, they sit down and go through the box. Rei finds three chemistry books that catch his interest. Nagisa digs out endless historical novels, stacking them up one by one. Although Rei isn’t sure if he’ll actually read them cover to cover, he allows the collection to grow silently.

"Alright," says Nagisa, after they’ve gone through every book, sounding pleased that he’d at least had a little success in bringing the box home. "I’ll bring the rest back tomorrow, then!"

Combining Nagisa’s stack with his, Rei piles the books into his arm. “Are you tired?”

"Yeah, I’ll probably get ready to go to sleep soon," Nagisa replies, just barely covering a yawn with one hand. "I have to get up for the first shift tomorrow."

"I’ll put these away, then," Rei offers, and when Nagisa nods, he disappears into the bedroom in order to slide the books onto their bookshelf. It’s already far too crowded. He tucks the books into whatever space they can fill. They have just enough room for another small bookshelf, and Rei resolves to discuss buying another one with Nagisa, once there’s no possible room for anything more on the first one. He flips through one of the chemistry books as he waits for Nagisa to finish showering and brushing his teeth.

Nagisa seems strangely subdued, even after Rei finishes taking care of his own hygienic needs and climbs into bed with him. All evidence points to him being truly exhausted, but he still huddles close and still sighs happily when Rei pulls him closer.

"Goodnight," Rei says, as an afterthought,

"Night," murmurs Nagisa. He’s out like a light within minutes, and once again, Rei has yet to doze off. Nagisa’s chest rises and falls with even, gentle breaths. Rei presses his mouth to Nagisa’s hair and runs through various relaxation techniques in his head. It’s not that he’s particularly anxious—some nights he just can’t seem to fall asleep, even with a warm, resting body in close proximity, without consciously easing himself into a state of relaxation.

Nagisa calls his name softly.

Wide-eyed, Rei stares at the wall next to their bed. Without his glasses, the entire room is dark and blurry. His shoulders have gone stiff. Nagisa makes another small noise, sighing, and Rei exhales a hesitant gust of air. Nagisa is so close that it would be impossible to ignore the fact that he’s—that he’s _hard_ , in his sleep.

This isn’t the first time that Nagisa has had a wet dream with Rei in the room; back before Nagisa had first kissed him, he’d invited himself over and promptly fallen asleep on Rei’s bed as soon as Rei had given in to his demands to play a movie on his laptop. Rei remembers being in disbelief, first. _This couldn’t be happening,_ he’d thought. The third time Nagisa had quietly gasped Rei’s name had thoroughly convinced him, however, and he’d tumbled out of his bed and escaped into the bathroom to calm down. Nagisa had never mentioned anything odd. Eventually, Rei had learned to move past the strange awkwardness and pretend like it had never happened.

Nagisa grinds his hips lazily against Rei’s leg. “S’good, Rei,” he murmurs, and it takes every bit of self-control that Rei can muster to hold himself still. He wants to roll over and cover his face with both hands, but Nagisa had seemed so utterly tired before bed, and Rei doesn’t want to risk waking him up. That desire chimes most clearly.

He wonders what Nagisa is dreaming about him doing. Nagisa likes Rei’s mouth, and has stated so before. Swallowing hard, Rei considers his options carefully: waking Nagisa up is an action he’s already decided to avoid. He could wait until Nagisa calms down by himself, as his method with dealing with the issue in the past had been. He feels cowardly, for some reason, when he considers the second option.

Compromising, Rei mutters, “Tell me what to do,” into the air between them, hoping that his dream self does the same, and tries to hold still when Nagisa inhales unsteadily in response. 

By the time Nagisa stops rolling his hips and his breathing evens out, Rei is quivering. He doesn’t know how he manages to fall asleep, but he wakes up to the sun beaming into his eyes through a crack between the curtains over the window. He knows without looking that Nagisa has already gone to work. Arranging his glasses on his face neatly, he frowns, feeling like he should have asked Nagisa to wake him up early so that he could help him carry the excess books back. Rei doesn’t have any classes today, so he can afford to take it easy. He pointedly doesn’t think about last night.

School work is a welcome distraction. A few of the other students at his university tend to complain about it, but Rei is still surprised by how different from high school the atmosphere is. When he goes to the library in order to study, there are countless others there, all for the same reason. 

The sound of the door opening makes him jump. Nagisa notes his shocked facial expression and flashes him an unapologetic grin. “I’m home!” he says.

"Welcome back." Stretching his cramped muscles, Rei stands up from the couch and joins Nagisa in the kitchen. "I was just about to make lunch."

"I came back just in time, then," says Nagisa cheerfully. Rei turns towards him, intending to ask Nagisa what he wants to eat. The first syllable catches in his throat and fades away instantly.

Nagisa is leaning back against the kitchen counter, the way he’s posed a million times before, but his hands are resting on the flat surface behind him and his head is turned to the side and Rei can see the stark outline of his collarbone and all he can think of is holding Nagisa close last night, keeping himself in check while Nagisa rutted against him absentmindedly. It’s like one of those strange rushes of giddiness, like the one he’d felt just two nights ago. Rei doesn’t realize he’s staring until Nagisa laughs.

"I—I didn’t mean to—"

"Maybe lunch can wait, just this once," Nagisa suggests. He pushes off from the counter and moves towards Rei, a smile curving the edges of his mouth. He winds his arms around Rei’s neck and tugs him down to speak against Rei’s mouth, breathing fanning out warmly between the two of them: "What do you think?"

Rei closes the distance between them. Nagisa moans and tangles his fingers in Rei’s hair, lets Rei lick into his mouth almost as soon as they’ve started kissing. Rei curls his palms over Nagisa’s hips and keeps pressing closer until Nagisa bumps back into the stretch of counter he’d been standing beside before. They stay in that position until Nagisa removes his hands from Rei’s hair and slides them up under Rei’s shirt. Breaking the kiss, Rei trails his mouth over Nagisa’s jaw, urging him to tilt his head back.

Nagisa does so eagerly, stroking his fingers up Rei’s sides as Rei relocates his mouth to Nagisa’s neck. “S’good, Rei,” he sighs, settling his hands over Rei’s ass.

Rei takes a deep breath at that. He _has_ to, because the tone of Nagisa’s voice had matched the tone of his voice from last night almost perfectly. 

Nagisa gasps as Rei drops to his knees.

"Sorry," Rei says, for no explainable reason, as he tugs at the button on Nagisa’s pants.

Gazing down at him, Nagisa laughs shakily.”What are you apologizing for?” He uses one hand to grab at the counter behind him for support, slipping the other back into Rei’s hair. As soon as he’s able to, Rei yanks Nagisa’s pants down over his hips, not even bothering to shove them off all the way. “ _Ah_ —”

Nagisa is hard already, and Rei lets out a breathy noise before he takes Nagisa’s cock into his mouth. He’s careful not to use teeth, and Nagisa groans loudly, legs trembling. Rei takes him as deep as he can. At the first hard suck, Nagisa jerks forward, just a little, and Rei makes a low sound in the back of his throat. 

Rei presses his thumbs against the hollows of Nagisa’s hips and holds him against the counter as he sucks him off. Nagisa makes drawn-out, desperate noises, and Rei shivers eagerly. He knows exactly what Nagisa likes, and it isn’t long before Nagisa’s voice rises minutely in pitch, little twitches informing Rei that he’s going to come soon. He’s so concentrated on that that he doesn’t register the feeling of Nagisa’s hands grasping at his shoulders.

"W…ah, wait, _Rei_ ,” he says, sounding absolutely _wrecked_ , and Rei has to convince himself to stop. He stares up at Nagisa, panting. 

A moment later, Nagisa’s succeeded in urging him to his feet. Confused, Rei opens his mouth to ask what had been going wrong, but Nagisa kisses him enthusiastically, sucking Rei’s tongue into his mouth. “I wanted…to kiss you,” he explains breathlessly. He grabs at Rei’s pajama pants, tugging them down and taking Rei’s cock in his hand, jerking in slow motions and slicking pre-come over Rei’s erection. Rei groans helplessly and braces his hands on the counter top behind Nagisa, grinding into Nagisa’s palm. “Hey, touch me too,” says Nagisa, nudging at Rei’s throat with his nose. Taking a shuddering gulp of air, Rei wraps his fingers around Nagisa’s dick, still wet from Rei’s mouth.

Nagisa reverses their positions. Rei gasps, more out of the way the movement has Nagisa’s fist sliding over his cock in a fast, fluid motion than anything else. Nagisa shoves Rei up against the counter and nips at the dip between his collarbones, rolling his hips. 

"Nagisa," says Rei, a little frantically. He can feel that his glasses are askew but he can’t even imagine taking his hand off of Nagisa’s cock or letting go of the counter so that he can fix them. Instead, he tilts his head back for Nagisa’s mouth on his neck. Nagisa bites down hard enough to leave a bruise, and Rei gasps. 

Moaning, Nagisa spills into Rei’s hand, thrusting into his grip a few more times before pausing. His fingers squeeze around Rei’s erection, and Rei is so close he’s desperate with it, short, small sounds rising from his throat. Nagisa rubs his thumb over the head and leans up to speak low into Rei’s ear, “Next time, I’m gonna fuck you over the counter,” and Rei comes, silent save for the way his breath seems to rattle in his ears.

Rei’s hand is dirty. It starts to bug him after a few minutes of just holding Nagisa close, calming himself down. He fixes his glasses, glances over at the kitchen sink and frowns. 

"Yeah," says Nagisa, apparently taking notice, "we should probably just clean up in the bathroom."

It’s definitely not the first time they’ve fooled around in the apartment, but Rei is still training himself out of double-checking to make sure all the evidence is disposed of. There aren’t any parents around to worry about; this is his and Nagisa’s space. Rei pulls his pajama pants back up and heads back into the bathroom, Nagisa following close behind. 

"Would you really let me fuck you over the counter?" Nagisa asks while Rei is washing his hands.

Rei sputters. “When did I say that?”

Nagisa actually _blushes_. “Well,” he says. “You didn’t really seem that opposed to it before. And, you know, sometimes when you’re in there cooking, it’s really easy to imagine just going up and—”

"Let’s go out to eat!" says Rei, clapping his hands over his ears and fleeing from the room. Nagisa’s laughter follows him, and Rei is glad to know that he hadn’t taken it personally.

Most likely from before Rei had even met him, Nagisa has always been forward about what he wants. It’s refreshing for Rei, who values honestly, but it’s supremely embarrassing at times. Nagisa is not pushy about sex by any means, and his only experience before Rei had been with his own hand, but a willingness to try new things is another one of his perpetual character traits. Rei knows that probably better than anyone.

He gets dressed. Nagisa is waiting for him by the front door once he’s finished. 

"Did you really mean what you said about going out to eat?" he asks curiously. "Or—"

Grabbing Nagisa’s hand, Rei hauls him out of the door. He regrets that they haven’t taken a shower, but hopefully no one will notice. Nagisa is more than happy to cling to his hand and offer suggestions as to where they should eat, as if Rei doesn’t already know that Nagisa is leading him to the ramen shop three blocks away. 

Rei huffs out a breath, looks up towards the sky, and smiles.

The two of them arrive back at the apartment during the evening. Going out to eat had turned into ducking into a few shops to look around, which had led to Rei remembering about needing another bookcase, which had led to Nagisa’s eyes lighting up and an unplanned trip to a furniture store. Nagisa had paid the entire fee, brushing aside Rei’s complaints.

"I want to," he’d pleaded, body poised to run off and find an employee. Rei had glanced down at the bookshelf, considering it. It was a nice bookshelf, and not terribly expensive.

"If…if you’re sure," he’d said. The bright way that Nagisa had grinned at his acceptance had eased his guilty conscience.

They set the new bookshelf up next to the old one. The wood is a little darker, but it’s a close enough shade that it’s barely noticeable. Rei sits down to transfer some of the overflowing books onto the new shelf, and Nagisa sits beside him, leaning his head on his shoulder.

"Do I make you happy?" Nagisa asks.

Rei pauses for a moment. Nagisa never says things like that. “If you didn’t, then I wouldn’t be here,” is all he says. Nagisa hums, tucking himself farther into Rei’s side.

"That’s true," he says. Rei warms at the easy way Nagisa trusts in him.

They watch a movie on their television and sit on their couch and eat a bag of their potato chips, the brand that Rei secretly finds addictive despite its low nutritional value. They brush their teeth in their bathroom and smile at each other through their mirror and shower together, just this once, even if the shower is too cramped for two people. They pass kisses back and forth like text messages, blinking with ten heart emoticons, and retire to their bedroom.

Once the two of them are in bed and under the covers, Rei wraps his arms around Nagisa. Neither of them say anything. Rei hasn’t felt the need to fill a silence around Nagisa in a long time.

Eventually, Nagisa’s breathing slows, as it has for the past two nights. Rei sighs wryly, suspecting that falling asleep before Nagisa does is going to be a rare thing. He doesn’t mind. Living with Nagisa has never been a predictable experience, anyway. He closes his eyes as Nagisa begins to speak, ready to respond to whatever dreaming fantasy he’s having now.

"If it were okay, in Japan…would you marry me?" asks Nagisa quietly.

It’s just sleep-talking, but Rei considers it seriously. He thinks about how Nagisa is always a steady comfort at his side, how quickly they both adapted to sharing a living space. He thinks about how happy Nagisa was to be paying for the bookcase for him, and how natural it feels to come home to him, to say _Welcome home_.

"Yes," he says.

Nagisa sits up.

He shrugs off Rei’s arm, gone slack with surprise, and peers at Rei excitedly. He is very much wide awake. “Would you really?” he demands.

Rei gapes soundlessly.

"You—I thought you were—asleep," he manages to say. "You talk in your sleep, I thought—"

Nagisa is laughing now, leaning over Rei and kissing him, again and again, mouth and forehead and cheeks and nose. “That means you meant it, right? Didn’t you?”

He meant it. Rei pulls a pillow over his face. The next morning, Nagisa asks when he’s free to go look at rings. 

Rei, at his most eloquent, spits water all over the front of his shirt.

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by this tumblr post: http://daft-obrien.tumblr.com/post/61652936791/everyones-freaking-out-over-how-comfortable
> 
> tried something new with this fic ahh thank you to miko for reading it over for me!


End file.
